Light and Darkness

Feb 12th, 2015 11:59 PM

Eva smiled at Regan, her dimples pinching on both cheeks. "Both in Fate and by trade, as it turns out," she replied to his mention of her being a builder before she turned to reply to Tracy.

"I certainly look forward to staying in town for quite some time, Rampant Dragon. It's good to meet you. No doubt I will see you around often?"

Burns had introduced herself by her first name, but old habits died hard; Eva Edwards was a product of her era, and so it was most uncommon for her to address someone she'd just met so casually. Quickly, David began his lecture, and so the Daeva turned her attention to him. She llistened carefully, nodding at the end in agreement. She was not such a devotee of Fate that she believed everything the card supposedly said about her, but as an assessment of the core of her being?

Kindred were complicated beings, but shave them down to the sternest and darkest stuff within them? A good Course of Light and Darkness could suss that out, if one was truly open with their responses.

"That makes sense to me," she agreed. "It certainly has the potential to tell us much about ourselves. I know mine certainly did. Rampant Dragon, hopefully yours will be just as enlightening when you get the opportunity."

What would the Cards say for Tracy Burns?

**Hildegarde Bingen** · Feb 13th, 2015 04:05 AM

Hildegarde waited in the wings, letting the conversation flow on around her. She allowed herself to ware an enigmatic smile - something to break the blank monotony of her doll like countenance. The Order had waxed and waned it was true: a volatile academy that was strong one moment and weak the next.

Perhaps now, around this table, a core was being forged? As Seer she had to know what resources were at the Order's disposal. And at present, the Domain was a shoal of treacherous water with hidden depths and submerged reefs: the Unconquered were dominant yet had not revealed their hand; the Lance and the Circle were small but in no way could they be discounted. And then there was the veritable legion of the unaligned waiting to be tapped.

Hildegarde, like her Order, was patient. So she watched, feigning friendly disinterest.

Feb 13th, 2015 01:12 PM

An open handed gesture invites Tracy to take a seat at the table and takes the cards into his hands, shuffling them. “Let's see what the Cards say,” into the small bag with a free hand, David removes seven tokens. Each white token has a single Cardinal Virtue written on it and each are arrayed into a line. “Each course contains twenty-one questions,” the Libitinarius explains, “the questions may seem a bit out of place tonight, but they are vetted for doing as we need.”

Turning his gaze towards Tracy, David begins, “Your leader commands you to torture a captured prisoner so as to intimidate his comrades. Do you obey or refuse?”

The Course of Light has begun and David waits expectantly for Tracy's answers. Each question offers a different conundrum and ethical dilemma. Does Tracy rob a poor man for a rich one for a Master she has sworn total loyalty to? Does she retreat from an advancing force or stand her ground? Is Tracy silent and honest or does she perjure herself to free a friend falsely accused? With each answer rendered, David places a card on a specific virtue.

It may seem arcane but there is a method. But that pattern is only known to those who've walked the Path.

*

Jag

**Jag** · Feb 19th, 2015 08:38 AM

"Certainly," said the petite Gangrel in response to the new Supplicant.

Her attention then turned to David, as the Grand Wyrm began to shuffle the cards and spoke to her. "Obey," she said in response to the first question. "If I have sworn my allegiance to said leader, who am I to question their methods?" The Rampant Dragon pondered her own question for a moment, wondering if there were certain lines she wouldn't be willing to cross. However, she knew quite well that in the defense of the Order, she would be willing to cross many lines that others wouldn't.

"I would definitely stand my ground against an advancing force," she said in response to another question. "Especially if it were in the defense of my colleagues. Tactical retreat is only an option once those who can't protect themselves have made it out safely." As usual, her answers were likely somewhat predictable, at least for those who knew her well.

Feb 19th, 2015 01:19 PM

Cards begin to fall onto virtues. Faith. Fortitude and again. With the last question, “You are given the honor of hosting a feast on a beloved holiday, do you splurge or do you hold back?” David collects the cards and carefully counts out how many have fallen and where.

The answer he keeps to himself.

Carefully, the deck is reshuffled once more, and the white tokens are replaced with black ones, marked with the deadly sins of man.

“You meet a beautiful and desirable woman who treats you with haughty disdain. Do you trick her into bed or earn her admiration to reject her?”

The Course of Darkness begins much like the last. Each scenario offers a, perhaps, startling look at the Kindred in question; usually so ignorant of their own base desires. It is easier to see oneself in the best light, it is harder to see oneself in the worst. Does Tracy pursue an enemy across the ocean or does she deem him no longer a threat? Does she take the treasury of a town into her own or spend it lavishly on her own celebration? Does she pay a courtesan of notorious skill and beauty her outrageous price or does Tracy haggle first? Does Tracy make an arduous journey for the promise of a feast or does she decline? Neither answer is a good one, not really. But it all depends on the Rampant Dragon, herself.

**Tracy Burns** · Feb 20th, 2015 03:12 PM

Tracy considered the next question for a moment, tilting her head slightly to one side. Eventually she offered a shrug in response to the Grand Wyrm. "Why hold back? A party is a party, and if I have the opportunity to be host, I'd definitely make sure that it is one hell of a party," said the petite Gangrel, a devilish smirk forming on the corner of her lips.

The Savage's smirk widened into a full blow grin at the next question. "Hmmm, that presents an interesting conundrum," she said, considering how she would handle such a situation. "On the one hand, trying to win her over to reject her later could be fun..." she let her words trail off, vacillating between her options. "But on the other, tricking her into bed and just hate-fucking the shit out of her would be even better. So yeah, I think I'd go with that." As she finished giving her response, Tracy offered a quick wink to David.

**Hildegarde Bingen** · Feb 20th, 2015 10:28 PM

Hildegarde decides it is time to move -a tell tale flicker in her languid hand catches her eye. She moves gently, flexing fingers as she goes, and drifts over to where the new member of their Academy also watches the Course unfold.

"Tell me a little of yourself, Supplicant. The Academy is new and flexible. How can we accommodate your studies into our program?"

Of course, close proximity to the Daeva allowed the Castellan to test herself against the creature of equal strength. The liquid thing that quivered at the base of her spine positively stretched out its long ~~fingers~~ pseudopodia and tested the strength of its cage. She let it clamber into her skull, readying to strike - but held it there.

Hildegarde stared at Eva, a hand straying to run through her own dark locks.

Feb 21st, 2015 01:42 PM

Edwards had been watching the course silently, noting the answers and smiling slightly as Tracy Burns mentioned that she would engage in a little bit of hate-fucking. The Daeva understood such things. The Beast had its needs down in the Darkness, and there was something primally satisfying about such things.

Not that she would engage in that sort of activity, herself. She had her own horrors to attend to.

As Hildegarde moved over to her, she felt the rise within her Blood, the boiling - it reminded her, yet again, of a course of study that she needed to tend to one night in the future. She arrested the urge to sink her teeth into Hildegarde's beautiful, doll-like face. Answer the question...

"Of course, Castellan. I am most recently resident in Las Vegas, where my former mentor - rest his soul - and I studied the principles of the Elysian Coils together. Alas, he perished recently. I found that without him, it was time to make a Change. Perhaps, even, to find a new Mentor to study under." She smiled, remembering what had been lost most fondly. Her tone was quiet, not wishing to interrupt the examiner and the examined in their exchange. "I am a tailor by trade, and I practice alchemy as a means of exacting Change upon myself. Is there space for such things here? I am always happy to contribute my share to a House that is supportive of my works..."

Where she gave quid, she expected her quo in return. But where a House gave her quid, she paid her quo willingly. It was as it ought to be among Dragons.

"I mean to take my studies in a new direction, shortly - I must admit, I am fascinated by studies of Torpor of late. Are there others who research such things here?"

**Hildegarde Bingen** · Feb 21st, 2015 05:35 PM

Hildegarde appeared not move as she watched the Course. She did not turn to Eva when she spoke:

"The Academy does not have a space formally set aside for laboratories at this stage. That is not to say we can look into such investments at a later date. I too have practice alchemy and we do have a few tomes on the subject. Some of them I bought myself. Torpor now, is a most interesting subject. I am beginning to see the value of such study in my own Great Work; and I believe that the Grand Wyrm himself has a passing interest in such matters. You should speak with him if you wish to pursue that line of inquiry while you are here."

Feb 22nd, 2015 04:28 PM

One might wonder how David answered, so many years ago in a different time and a different place. David was a Slave then, held beneath the strict thumb of Johan Fisher. How many would be surprised that David chose the same option to the haughty woman question. Sure, he may have chose the option for a different reason than Tracy. But it is still the same option. How many would find their perceptions of the bookish, docile man changed if they knew?

Tracy's wink is met with bashful placement of the card.

Eventually, Tracy answers the rest of the questions in the course and cards are placed on their vices. One, in particular, reveals itself to be above all others. Or, below, depending on viewpoint.

As David takes his cards back into his hands, he searches for one in particular.

The Knight of Swords.

A knight errant, sword upraised, rushing headlong into battle.

“What,” David questions Tracy, “do you think this card says about you?”

Light and Darkness

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